


Five

by floorcoaster



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-09 22:39:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12898329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/floorcoaster/pseuds/floorcoaster
Summary: Hermione agreed to let a friend set her up, but she got the shock of her life on the night of the date.





	Five

**Author's Note:**

> MANY thanks to dormiensa for the encouragement, the coaching, the support, the everything in getting this story finished. It was a very close thing! Also thanks to the mods for running a fabulous fest and for granting me a short extension! MUCH appreciated! Finally, thank you to whoever nominated me for this fest. It is always lovely to write for dhr_Advent!

Hermione pushed open the door to the restaurant, anxious to be away from the suffocatingly small space where _he_ was also present. He hadn’t seen her, of course, but she had seen him, and her heart had clenched painfully. It had been four months since he’d abruptly and unceremoniously ended their relationship, and tonight she discovered that she wasn’t over him, though she’d thought she was making progress. 

The worst part—the _worst!_ —was that she had agreed to this set up by a friend at work even though she knew she wasn’t completely ready to move on. But never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine that her friend would set her up with someone who would bring _him_ along. At best, she imagined dressing up a bit, having some wine, laughing a bit, enjoying some stimulating conversation, and that was all. It wasn’t supposed to be anything more than a respite from the pain in her heart. 

Everyone knew about the relationship; it wasn’t possible to hide the fact that she, Muggle-born War Heroine was dating him, the Pureblood former Death Eater whose betrayal had resulted in the death of Dumbledore. So when she and Veronica had spotted the table where Veronica’s friend, also Hermione’s date, Mark, were seated, they had immediately ducked behind the nearest wall upon seeing Draco Malfoy sitting there as well. 

Veronica had gone to the table to make some excuse, while Hermione rushed to the loo. It was closer than the exit, and she didn’t want to risk any attention drawn her way. She’d done her best to calm her racing heart, splashed water on her face, then waited until she thought it was safe to leave. She hadn’t bumped into him on her way out, so all she had to do was find a good place from which to Apparate, and then she could curl up on her sofa and have a good cry. 

A blast of cold air hit her face, and she was vaguely aware of some other people standing around outside the restaurant. It was close to Christmas, after all, so there were a lot of people in Diagon Alley taking care of last-minute preparations. Hermione shoved her hands in her pockets and glanced around her, only to lock eyes with the last person she expected, the one man she thought she’d manage to avoid. 

He was leaning against a lamppost, an easy, unaffected air about him. He wore a white shirt and a brown leather jacket, dark blue pants. An olive green scarf hung loosely around his neck, as though he wasn’t affected by the cold at all. Of course, he could simply have cast a warming charm on himself, but the sight of him flustered her nonetheless. 

His eyes widened in surprise, and he pushed himself off the post, turning to face her. She reluctantly did the same. 

“Hermione,” he said, his voice sounding a bit strained. He managed to give her a small smile.

She was determined to extricate herself from this situation as smoothly and quickly as possible. “Draco,” she said, glancing around as though looking for someone. 

His gaze flitted from her to the path her tracks had left in the snow, to the restaurant and then back to her. His eyes narrowed, though with thought, not malice. “Were you just inside?”

 _Bugger_ , she thought. She forced a tired smile. “I was, though only briefly.”

“I was, as well,” he said, then paused. Hermione could practically hear the wheels turning in his head, and she wished she could disappear. He was trying to figure out the mystery in which he’d found himself His expression darkened slightly. “A friend asked me to come with him to dinner. Though when I said yes, I didn’t know we’d be joined by another friend of his and someone he was being set up with.”

Hermione didn’t know what to say, nor why Draco was telling her this. In fact, his words had been hasty, almost spilling over themselves. “Ahh,” she said, feeling the nerves in her stomach twist. 

“I didn’t see you in there,” he continued, letting his eyes drift over her. “And I think I’d have noticed you in that dress.” . 

“I really just went to the loo,” she said, fishing through her purse to hide her furious blush and wishing that she could pull out a set of keys that would signify that she was ready to leave. She hadn’t yet discovered if the wizarding world had its equivalent. 

Draco let out a long breath, then swept the fringe out of his eyes. “I’m glad to have bumped into you, to be honest.”

That startled her, and froze, her hand wrapped around the cell phone she carried in case her parents needed to get in touch with her. “Oh?” she said, almost in a whisper. She wouldn’t let her heart race or her mind wander. His gaze was intense as he stared at her, and Hermione had to remind herself to breathe. She’d thought he was on the verge of saying something momentous, but then she saw comprehension dawn and he took a small step back. 

“Mark’s friend, Veronica, came to our table and said that her friend wasn’t coming after all,” he said, a strained note in his tone. “That wasn’t... was it? You?”

Hermione shrugged and couldn’t look him in the eye. 

“And you saw me and bolted,” he concluded. “Not that I blame you.”

At that, she chanced a sideways glance at him. Draco’s brow was furrowed as though he were deep in thought, his expression tinged with something she couldn’t quite place. She’d always loved watching him think; it was so different from how she thought, and she’d once made it a kind of game to try and guess where his thoughts went when he got like this. 

She’d rarely ever been correct, but then Draco had always intrigued her, ever since his very public and vulnerable apology to her and her friends after his trial. His mind worked in ways that clearly still fascinated her. 

Hermione expected him to say more, but when he didn’t, she looked at him more fully. There was obvious pain in his eyes, and it made her heart thud in her chest. 

“So that’s that,” he said quietly, holding her gaze for a moment. “You’ve moved on.”

For the briefest of seconds, anger flared, and she almost lashed out at him to remind him that _he_ had been the one to end things, not _her_. But she was tired. And tomorrow she had plans to spend the whole day at The Burrow helping Molly with Christmas preparations, and the evening had been emotional enough. She didn’t have any more energy to spend on him. 

“Draco,” she began, then paused, searching for the right words. 

He jumped in during the silence. “No, I apologize. That... it wasn’t my place.” His words caught her off guard, and he spoke again. “I meant what I said, though. That I’m glad to see you.” He smirked slightly. “Better out here than in there.”

Hermione shuddered at the thought. “You’ve got that right.”

“I can’t imagine trying to get through dinner, watching you on a date with someone else....” His voice trailed off and he frowned at the ground.

She bristled, confused at his mournful tone. “Well. It’s late. No, it isn’t; rather, I should get going.” Pulling her cloak closer around her, she started to walk away.

Only he stopped her, grabbing her wrist gently. “Wait, Hermione. Please.”

Frustration threatened to boil over in her desperation to get away from him. “What is it, Draco?” she said wearily. 

He released her, a hurt look on his face which he quickly masked. “I’ve something I wish to say to you. Will you let me say it? It won’t take long, I promise.”

Hermione bit her lip and crossed her arms, trying to exude impatience. “All right, then.”

Draco also seemed frustrated as he dragged a hand through his hair. “Right. Here goes. I—I’m just going to say it. Hermione, I made a mistake, ending things with you.”

Her heart started pounding. “What?” she whispered, unable to keep herself from looking at him.

“I can’t even explain what happened, really,” he said, shrugging. “Things with us were good, very good, even. And I... I had started thinking about the future, with you. Then my father said something that I let get into my head—something about responsibility to centuries of Malfoy lineage and the family business and my legacy.... Then before I knew it, I was breaking up with you. None of it made sense, and.... I’ve regretted it ever since. But I didn’t know how to tell you, or what to tell you. Somehow, I reasoned, it would work out, but then tonight, realizing that you were seeing someone... And I’d been meaning to speak with you before tonight, but I kept thinking of a hundred reasons why I could never find the right time. The truth is, there is no right time. So here I am, taking what I’ve got. A botched set-up between my friend and you.” 

Hermione was stunned, and she had to look away. Her mind was spinning over what he’d confessed, and a flame of hope erupted in her heart. 

“I’m sorry I did it. I’m sorry I waited so long to attempt to reconcile. And I’m sorry that I hurt you.”

She nodded slowly, watching the people around them rushing about, completely oblivious to the earth shattering conversation she was part of. Part of her felt like singing, part of her wanted him to apologize more, while yet another part wanted him to hurt like she had. Mostly, though, she wanted to melt into his arms and never leave. 

“Thank you,” she replied slowly. “I appreciate your honesty.” Finally, she looked at him, surprised by the intensity, the anxiety in his eyes. “Oh, Draco,” she said, reaching for his hand and threading her fingers with his. It felt exactly right. “I wasn’t moving on; I haven’t been able to. Tonight I’d just hoped to forget for a few hours.”

His gray eyes were wild as he searched her face. After a moment, he relaxed and gripped her hand tighter. Then something seemed to occur to him because he let go and pulled a velvet bag from a pocket in his robes. 

“This is how serious I was,” he said, handing her the bag. “I couldn’t decide, so I bought five of them.”

Puzzled, Hermione loosened the opening of the bag and reached in, gasping at the feel of velvet. A quick exploration told her there were five small boxes in the bag. “Draco!” she gasped. “What is this?”

He shrugged. “I figured I had time to narrow it down to the one I wanted to give you. But I need you to know how important you were— _are_ —to me, Hermione. I love you. And I expect that will never change. Being apart these last months... Well, it’s been the worst months of my life, which is saying quite a lot.”

Hermione was too stunned to speak at his confession. She pulled a box from the bag and opened it to reveal an intricately etched gold band with a small diamond in it. “Oh, it’s beautiful!” she said breathlessly, unable to process what she was holding. Had he really intended to ask her to marry him? 

“When I told my father, that’s when I let him get into my head,” Draco said, pulling another box from the bag. “All five of these rings are very different, but each one reminded me of you in some way. As I said, I couldn’t decide.” 

Hermione silently examined all five rings, returning each one to its box and putting the boxes back into the bag. Finally, she cinched the drawstring and gave it back to him. “I look forward to seeing which one you choose,” she said with a shy smile.

Draco let out a relieved chuckle. “You’re not going to make it easy for me, are you?”

“Of course not,” she replied. Then her stomach rumbled, alerting her that she had yet to eat dinner. “But Draco, I do think we should talk some more about this. We can’t just go back to where we were.”

“I know,” he said, stowing the bag back in his robe. “I’ve got more explaining to do. Only... does this mean you want to try again?”

“Yes, Draco,” she said with a smile, taking his hand once more and leading him down the street. “And we can start talking over dinner, as I’m quite hungry.”

“Oh?” He gave her something of a predatory grin. “Dinner already?”

“Well, we both missed the meal, didn’t we? We need to talk, we’re surrounded by restaurants, so why not?” 

“As you wish,” he said, his expression turning serious once more. “I’ve got so much to make up for.”

“That’s true,” she affirmed. “And dinner tonight is a start. You can _really_ show me how serious you are by coming to the Burrow with me tomorrow.” 

Draco stiffened and looked at her sharply. “Are you certain that’s wise?”

Hermione knew that, after everything Draco had put her through, her friends would not be welcoming—to put it mildly. “Best get this part over with, right? Help them get used to the idea again?”

He nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes. Right. I can do this. My father’s best bottle of wine for Molly, new brooms for Potter and the Weasleys, I’ll drop by a junk shop in Muggle London and pick out something for Arthur....”

“You can’t expect to buy back their affection, you know,” she said. 

“Certainly not,” he said, feigning injury. “It can’t hurt my case, though.”

She considered him thoughtfully. “We’ll see about that.”

Draco stopped walking and tugged her toward him. Her breath caught in her throat at his nearness. “I promise I will never do anything so foolish as breaking up with you ever again.”

“Yeah?” she said with a smile.

“By Merlin’s saggy pants,” he replied.

Hermione laughed. Things with Draco would never be dull, and she was thankful for it. Already, she felt that she could love him fully again, give her heart to him completely once more. And she couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> PHEW! My prompt was "The 12 Days of Christmas." Immediately upon seeing that, my mind went to the fifth day and the "Five Golden Rings." I struggled with this because the muse disappeared completely after I'd written 1500 words. This wasn't the original story, but it was part of it, expanded, and I am happy with it. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I truly hope you liked it and maybe even smiled at some point.


End file.
